


the scenery changes (but a garden remains a garden)

by Averia



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Angel!Dick, Jason Todd Has Issues, Lucifer!Jason, M/M, Rape/Non-con Elements, Threats of Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-31 15:54:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21148292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Averia/pseuds/Averia
Summary: "I wouldn't," Jason complied, or maybe it was a warning, hand burying into his hair nearly gentle now. The contrast to the harsh pressure of Jason's knee between his shoulder blades made Dick's throat clog.





	the scenery changes (but a garden remains a garden)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Whispering_Imp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whispering_Imp/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Batfam Bingo Art Fills](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18315866) by [Whispering_Imp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whispering_Imp/pseuds/Whispering_Imp). 

> Inspired by Whispering Imp's amazing art, especially Chapter 8 of the Bingo Fills. <3
> 
> Warnings are in the tags if you need any.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Dick felt the heat before he saw him. It burned the air around him, crept up to him like a forest fire beneath the under bushes.

His blue wings opened wide as he turned, his arms did too. Energy bundled against his skin in such thin strips; they might as well have been sun rays. Despite their seeming fragility, his weapons of choice held their ground when Jason's heavy golden sword descended upon him. 

A screeching sound arose between them, a shiver running across Dick's skin. The agonizing screams of hell’s souls rang in his ears, shook him to his core.

Red eyes burned into his blue. Had he been a lesser angel, Dick would have gone blind, but, even after all these years and all their differences, Dick still existed longer, had given a piece of himself to Jason instead of the other way around.

The shock wave pushed them apart, let Dick's skin tingle with a burning sensation most noticeable as a stinging arc across his face. Jason remained above him, his large shadow falling over Dick. Red feathers rustled with every powerful swing. The majestic wings had grown in size, just like Jason himself.

For just a split second, Dick's gaze twitched up to the volatile flickering crown above Jason’s head. Looking at the flames hurt the most. Hell’s fire had burned through Jason's once bright golden halo like a parasite.

"Missed me so much?" Dick wondered aloud, an easy grin on his lips. He would have to get past Jason to reach the gates to heaven - the gates to safety. Maybe he could. Since Jason had pulled himself out of the deepest pits of hell, their fights had ended in draws more often than not. Others had not gotten as lucky when trying to escape Jason's- _hell's_ wrath.

"What if I did, Dickie? You going to stay with your poor baby brother? Be the shoulder he can cry on?" Jason mocked, leaning forward the slightest bit.

Dick's hands flexed around his weapons, mouth twisting. 

He had always been faster. He could get past him. He had to.

"Course, Jaybird," he chuckled, body angling to the side, arms rising for a casual shrug, "Just let me check my calendar first!"

The boom echoed in his ears, wings propelling him forward, faster than sound. Still, a hand caught his ankle before he could get past Jason, and pain raced up his leg so excruciating Dick felt numbness before the energy coursing through him all at once started to scorch his skin - his being. A high scream erupted from his throat, full of anguish. Clouds imploded all around them in response, temperature dropping.

Jason whipped him down as if he weighed nothing as if Jason were standing on steady ground in front of an abyss. The second he let go - the second Dick could breathe again - Dick tried to propel upward once more, but Jason knew him too well, caught his wrist to prevent him from flipping and fell with him. Their wings brushed against each other as they grappled, feathers locking and breaking.

With gritted teeth and fury in his eyes, Dick broke one hand free to rip a stick of light up along Jason's chest and blanched when nothing happened. His mouth dropped open in disbelief.

Jason grinned, rows of teeth showing. A hit to the center of his chest sent Dick flying once more, and he barely had the time to turn before crash landing in a bunch of skulls. He gasped, vision blurred as he pulled up on his knees. His hand stretched out, but before he could crawl away, more skulls rained upon him, beating him down. More weight settled on top, effectively pinning him to the ground. Cold sweat tickled his skin when the light bones of his wings cracked precariously.

Jason came into view. His brother leaned over him, hellish and deadly, and with his sword drawn.

Fingertips dug into his skull when Jason pulled his head back. The edge of his sword pressed to Dick's jugular. And for the first time since his brother’s return, Dick truly feared what Jason might be able to do to him.

"Oh, Dickie - _darling_," Jason tested the word on his tongue, "you really thought that would work? Hasn't Daddy told you about your limitations?"

Dick growled, tried to rear up, but the weight was too much, and the sword remained too near.

"You could only make me bleed because I wished it. Timmy should have told you," Jason’s voice was nearer now, "I pull the wings off angels for a pastime. “

Dick didn't want to think about Tim, what Jason had done to him, what he might have done had Dick not interfered. He grinned through the pain and the fear slithering into his heart.

"Pull the wings off angels for a pastime? Phew, Jay. That seems kinda aggressive."

"Want me to show you?" Jason questioned without missing a beat, and Dick felt nauseating pain wash up his body when Jason shifted his weight. "Or are you going to give me the soul Bruce owes me?"

The sword danced against his throat. Dick gazed up into the burning eyes, contempt building bitterly in his mouth.

"You wouldn't."

Jason hummed, and the ground seemed to shake with the sound. For a moment, the sword remained at his throat, then Jason flicked his arm out so suddenly Dick couldn't help but flinch.

The weapon flickered along Jason's arm before it burned away, and Dick pulled, saw his chance, and was still too slow. Jason's knee pressed down between his shoulder blades, pinning him anew and forcing a cry of pain.

"I wouldn't," Jason complied, or maybe it was a warning, hand burying into his hair nearly gentle now. The contrast to the harsh pressure of Jason's knee made Dick's throat clog.

He knew all too well that he was in lots of trouble. Their fight had just been the means to an end. Jason had dragged him down to the first circle of hell, and while his wings were not broken, Dick wasn't sure he would be able to rise far before falling unconscious from the pain. Not to mention, Jason wouldn’t even let him get that far.

"Didn't think you'd admit that, Little Wing," Dick teased gently, hesitantly, while turning his head the faintest bit to look up into the burning eyes that watched him so intently. Their sight was still foreign. Dick was used to seeing the deep blue of heaven reflected in Jason's eyes sprinkled with the browns of the earth.

"Little?" Jason wondered aloud, red wings rising proudly, nearly enveloping them, a sign of the power Jason held down here and, apparently, above. "Don't you think that should be your name, darling?"

Dick's lips parted at the nickname, at the implication, but Jason didn't let him speak.

The weight shifted once more.

Dick barely held himself back from flinching a second time when Jason stepped forward - finally sliding off his back. His hand remained buried in his hair, pulling him along. He didn't scream, but his teeth clenched, and for a moment, the numbness started to creep back over him.

Jason caught him when he slumped forward and didn’t budge when Dick tried to push out of his embrace the second he felt the heat of his body. Tremors ran through his aching wings before they fell limp, brushing against the scorched earth.

"Where is it, Dick?" Jason whispered, breath touching his forehead and ruffling his hair, "Where is the soul?"

Dick looked up into those too red eyes, tried to ignore the arm around his waist, the hand still entangled with his hair, their nearness. His breathing was harsh enough for their naked skin to brush together, and his arm remained pressed over Jason’s chest to keep at least some distance. For once, he nearly wished their preferred state of being involved some kind of clothing. And, by Bruce, wasn’t that such a human thought?

There was no point in lying to Jason as he was now. And still, every second counted. He tilted his head, eyebrow rising.

"Soul? Jason, what are you t_aa!_" a hand around his throat cut him off, long black sharp nails biting into the thin flesh of his neck. Red eyes burned. Flames burst across Jason's face as he bared his teeth before they slowly simmered away, glowing embers regarding him.

"Of course," Jason said slowly, grip easing. Finger by finger. His gaze turned distant, the fire dying down to a dark red. "Not even you, he would trust with the Joker's soul."

Dick bit his tongue, fingers staying curled around Jason’s wrist in case his dear brother decided to choke him again. He hadn't even expected Jason assumed he had _that_ particular soul. Jason chuckled lowly, burning sparks glistening in his eyes that resembled the humans' fireworks they had liked to watch together a lifetime ago as his gaze returned to him.

"After all these years, we're still just puppets to him, hm?" Jason wondered aloud, thumb brushing over the damage his nails had caused while pushing their bodies further together. Dick let him if only because he couldn’t stop him; if only because the pain along his neck disappeared more with every touch. 

Jason’s mouth twisted. "And you let him use you every damn time. Where is your freedom, huh, Dickie? Where is that freedom you left me for?"

"Where is that freedom you nearly killed Tim for?" Dick bared his teeth even though his heart raced. _The freedom he had left him for?_ Had Jason truly seen it that way? "Ever since your return you talk about freedom in such broad terms, but I don’t see how hell could have possibly freed you, Jason. I'm freer than you will ever be." 

"Yeah?" Jason asked, wings rising once more, shadowing them, "You don't seem that free to me right now." 

"And whose fault is that?" Dick growled, his body tense underneath Jason's burning hands. Maybe he could find an opening. Something.

Jason laughed.

"Bruce's," Jason grinned, "I wouldn't have gone after you if he hadn't been adamant about using you against me."

Dick laughed, not the smart thing to do while in the clutches of the devil, wings too sprained to fly and ankle too weak to run… while said devil brushed over his cheek as if he had any right to touch him like that. It made his veins burn.

"All of this because of Bruce? Damn Jason, and here I thought you had a fucking point," Dick growled back, power running through him, light illuminating Jason as he hissed into his face.

"You want a point, Dickie?" Jason mocked, grip growing tighter around his waist, "I'll give you your choice, your free will. I can heal your wings right here and let you fly back to daddy dearest if you give me your soul instead. Or I can keep you here in hell to pluck your feathers one after another."

Dick showed his teeth, words burning at the tip of his tongue, but the hand at his cheek trailed down between his shoulder blades to brush along his wings. Feathers slipped between Jason’s fingers. 

His wide blue eyes reflected in Jason’s.

“Jason don’t,” Dick whispered, barely kept his shoulders from trembling. “This isn’t you.”

Jason’s eyes lit up again, but slower this time, glinting like burning embers once more.

“No? Who am I? How do I act? Who are you to tell me?” Jason spoke, and if not for the hand slowly tightening around his feathers, the words might have been soft and thoughtful. “I’m feeling like myself right now.”

It didn’t hurt yet, but the threat was there. Not to mention, Jason had pulled through with it before, albeit differently.

“Hell changed you,” Dick pressed out, and it did. Jason had struggled to follow Bruce’s rules, but he had been happy, had tried to be good more often than not, had wanted to be good so desperately. “You made that clear, but, Jason, I know you don’t do this without reason. I get it. I get Bruce disappointed you—“

“He wasn’t the only one,” Jason growled back, and Dick’s mouth twisted.

“I didn’t even know you were—“

“No,” Jason spoke harshly, flames licking at the edges of his eyes. “No, but you should have known!"

Would it have made a difference? Dick wasn't sure. He couldn't have gotten him out of hell. Not after his fall.

“Jason, you fell.”

Jason laughed. “And you couldn’t change that, could you? Poor, poor, Dickie.” The hand on his waist brushed up his skin, thumb resting beneath his pec. “He never gave you the power to pull anyone out of the pit.”

Dick bit the inside of his lip, couldn’t deny his words.

"In fact,” Jason smiled, a self-satisfied little thing spreading over his lips, “he never gave you the power to stop anyone who is truly free either. It’s why you can’t make me bleed, not without my permission.” 

Dick didn’t want to believe him, but he had seen, hadn’t he?

“You know,” Jason mused, gaze traveling over his face and fingers carding through his wings, “he loves them more, all those damned souls."

“That’s not true,” Dick denied, tried to ignore his twitching wings, tried to escape the teasing - threatening - touch, “He loves us just as much. He loves us more."

"And yet, we only ever have one chance to be perfect."

Dick’s throat closed. How often had he felt the same way? How often had he nearly withered away beneath the responsibilities Bruce’ made him carry. 

Jason pressed his lips to his brow. A mockery of comfort. 

Dick averted his gaze, couldn’t believe he was even listening to Jason.

"You aren't free, darling,” he whispered, “You wouldn't be here if you were. He made you just to use you in this game of his. Made all of us to use us, control us.”

Jason’s fingers burned against his jaw. 

“But I'm going to break all his rules," Jason whispered against his lips.

Dick jerked his head away.

Lips trailed along his cheek instead and a hitch escaped him when Jason's forked tongue flickered against the sensitive skin of his ear.

"I'm going to take everything he holds dear. I'll steal his chess pieces and keep them to myself.”

Dick tried to raise his wings, tried to get away one more time, but Jason was a furnace against him, hot and powerful, and he had always been weak to that, had loved the sun before anyone else. 

Had it been by design? A craving for a warmth Bruce never deemed to give him? Or had Jason just gotten into his head? With embarrassingly few sentences?

“And you are the Queen, the finest apple in his garden. He’ll miss you the most. He’ll rage, and he’ll lose. And, on the day of his defeat, I’ll show him what we should have been from the very beginning.”


End file.
